Wafa Hospital in Gaza’s Shujaiyya district has already been hit by drone
strikes, but staff say 16 elderly and terminally ill patients are too frail
to move despite Israeli warnings of further attacks

As 16 mostly elderly and terminally ill patients lay stricken in their hospital beds, Dr Basman Alashi vowed that he would never leave them, regardless of the physical dangers and an Israeli warning that the surrounding neighbourhood must be evacuated.

Frail patients at Waha Hospital (Robert Tait/The Telegraph)

Dr Alashi, executive director of Wafa Hospital in Gaza’s Shujaiyya district, judged that the patients – most of whom are receiving rehabilitation treatment – were too ill to be moved.

When an Israeli military officer called the hospital late on Tuesday warning that it must be evacuated by 8am the following morning, he called in the World Health Organisation (WHO), arguing that such a move would risk the lives of patients.

The WHO – the United Nations’ health body – responded by communicating his concerns to Israeli military authorities.

On Wednesday, while many inhabitants of Gaza’s Shujaiyya, Zeitoun and Beit Lahiya were on the move in response to Israeli bombardment warnings – relayed by recorded phone message and mass leaflet drops – Dr Alashi, 16 medical staff members and the same number of patients stayed behind.

They were joined by eight foreign activists, including one Briton, who have volunteered to act as human shields at the hospital.

Damage at the hospital (Robert Tait/The Telegraph)

“We are not leaving. This is a humanitarian building, not a military centre,” Dr Alashi told journalists on Wednesday. “Moving these patients is not going to make them any safer. They could easily die during transportation. We have to keep many of them on drip feed. There are no safe places in Gaza at this point. It is safer to keep them here.”

Yet the risks of staying in Wafa – situated about a mile from the frontier with Israel – are plain enough. Last Friday, the hospital’s fourth floor was wrecked after taking a direct hit from a drone strike – leaving a huge gaping hole on the side of the building that gives it a direct view into Israel.

Fortunately, staff – recalling that the hospital had been damaged during the 2008-9 war with Israel – had anticipated such an event and moved patients to the ground floor.

On Tuesday night, the third floor of the currently empty elderly care centre – which adjoins the hospital – was also hit, causing extensive damage.